In this edition’s Army&You and Reading Force Book Club, service young people tell us what they thought of And Don’t Look Back by Rebecca Barrow…
Elizabeth
Elizabeth (16)
I would give this book four out of five stars. I thought that the story was compelling and exciting as well as having a sense of mystery and multiple plot twists. I loved how it explored the main character’s sexuality as I feel you don’t see this unless it’s in romance novels so it was refreshing to see it in this book. My only criticism is that the flashbacks could get a little confusing and disrupt the flow of the story, despite them giving some important insights.
I would have loved to have seen another book detailing Cora’s life (the main character’s mother) as I believe this could have been really interesting and explored some important issues.
I also feel the bits we were told left some loose ends about how Cora felt and her thought process throughout it all. Overall I loved reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes mystery and adventure.
Bethany
Bethany (16)
I really enjoyed this book. It is very exciting and I couldn’t put it down. There were so many plot twists, nobody would guess how it ends. I liked how it would go back in time, it makes it into two stories that join together at the end. I would definitely read it again and recommend it to a friend.
Molly (15)
Don’t Look Back is an amazing book. It starts with showing us how Harlow and her mum, Cora, have been running all their lives from an unknown, unseen enemy. We see how Harlow changes her personality, as easily as a chameleon changes colour, to blend into new social climates.
The time comes again to pick up their meagre belongings and run again. This time they are involved in a car accident which ends up killing Cora.
Molly
Before she dies, Cora uses her last words to direct Harlow to a safety deposit box. Here Harlow finds lots of money and a deed to a mysterious house in the country. Not only that but photographs of her mother as a teenager with two other girls.
She finds relics of a past she never knew existed and realises she is left with two choices. She can keep living her life on the road, fleeing her mother’s invisible, unknown ghosts or she can use the £30,000 left to her and investigate the threat that has been hanging over head all her life.
Left with more questions than before, she bravely decides to face this unknown adventure head on. She travels for days to the quaint town of Crescent Ridge to find her new home.
She meets (and starts to crush on) a pretty girl who starts to help her with her twisted mystery.
This story lets our imaginations run wild, not giving us any real information or clues till the very end. It will leave you hanging onto to every word and eager to find out more.
We sympathise with Harlow as she learns to navigate not only this mystery but the mystery of her feelings. She learns how to connect with family she never knew she had and she discovers new feelings for a certain girl.
We think about how brave she is to go through all of this at such a young age with no mother behind her to support her.
The story has so many twists and turns that your head should spin but the fast pacing helps us to stay on track and concentrate on what’s happening then and there.